Bitcoin continued to trade near $90,000 on Friday as weakening volumes and thin liquidity kept price action choppy across the crypto market, with altcoins showing no clear direction.
The largest cryptocurrency held within a narrow range over the past 24 hours, slipping back toward Thursday’s lows while staying just above the $90,000 level. Bitcoin has remained confined to this band since late November, as overall trading activity continues to fade.
Spot trading volume declined 9% over the past day to roughly $38 billion, well below the $80 billion to $130 billion routinely recorded several months ago. Reduced participation and shallow liquidity have contributed to erratic price swings across both bitcoin and altcoins, with sharp moves often reversing quickly and punishing traders using leverage.
Altcoin performance was mixed. Polygon’s POL token led gains, rising 7.8% since midnight UTC after announcing plans to pivot toward becoming a neobank. Maple Finance’s SYRUP and Zcash (ZEC) also advanced, while tokens such as SKY and TON moved lower.
Derivatives markets echoed the subdued tone. Around $200 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, a sharp drop from the $400 million or more seen on each of the previous three days, indicating traders are increasingly staying on the sidelines. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, as measured by Volmex’s BVIV index, eased to 43% from 47.3%, reversing a late-December spike. Ether’s EVIV slipped to 60%, its lowest reading since Oct. 11.
Total notional open interest in crypto futures fell to $138.5 billion from above $141 billion earlier in the week, with most major tokens seeing declines. ZEC stood out with a 14% jump in open interest, likely reflecting hedging activity amid recent volatility. Funding rates for most major perpetual contracts remained positive, suggesting ongoing demand for bullish exposure, though XLM, WLFI, CRO and TRX continued to post negative rates.
In options markets, volatility-focused strategies dominated. On Deribit, straddles and strangles accounted for nearly 30% of bitcoin option block trades over the past 24 hours, signaling positioning around potential volatility rather than directional bets. For ether, traders favored strangles and call spreads.
Despite POL’s strong rally to its highest level since Nov. 20, liquidity remains thin. The token’s 2% market depth is just $197,000 on the upside, meaning a buy order of about $200,000 could move the price more than 2%.
Several altcoins underperformed the broader market. SKY fell 1.7% since midnight UTC, while TON slid 4.3%. Privacy-focused tokens reversed some of Thursday’s moves, with Monero (XMR) edging lower and Zcash rebounding more than 14% from its lows as concerns over a recent development team shakeup appeared to ease.
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